Staff Bios
Wendy Everett, ScD
Dr. Wendy Everett plays a leading role in creating NEHI's lasting partnerships with other successful national health policy organizations. As President, she works with the board to create NEHI's vision and strategy, and to communicate it to the outside world. She also provides direction and oversight for NEHI’s many reports and initiatives.
Dr. Everett was appointed as the first President of the New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI) in July 2002. With over thirty years of experience in the health care field, Dr. Everett brings a unique perspective to NEHI. She has held executive positions at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF) and at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. In the 1980s, she directed a national demonstration program for The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and subsequently was the Program Director for the national program in health promotion and disease prevention for the Kaiser Family Foundation.
She has served as a consultant to many state and national philanthropic foundations. In the mid 1990’s, she became a Director of the Institute for the Future, leading the Health and Health Care research team for six years and overseeing the creation of ten-year, national forecasts in health/health care. She is a Trustee of many health care and philanthropic boards.
Dr. Everett holds bachelor's of science degrees from the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Rochester. She received her master's and doctoral degrees in health policy and management from Harvard University.
Valerie Fleishman
Valerie Fleishman provides the strategic and operational direction for NEHI. As Executive Director, she oversees the institute’s policy research, programs, operations, fundraising and communications. Under her leadership, NEHI's programs seek to improve chronic illness care, promote disease prevention and wellness, and speed the adoption of valuable innovations across the health care system. She has authored numerous reports, articles and briefs on a wide range of health policy issues.
Ms. Fleishman joined NEHI at its founding in 2002. She has over fifteen years’ experience in health care, health policy, technology and innovation. Prior to joining NEHI, Ms. Fleishman was a director in Health and Wellness at Scient Corporation, where she led strategic consulting engagements with leading biotechnology, medical device and pharmaceutical clients in areas such as telemedicine, disease management, health information technology, clinical trials, and sales and marketing strategies.
Previously, Ms. Fleishman was a manager in Arthur D. Little's Global Strategy Practice. She also worked in product management and brand marketing at Johnson & Johnson's McNeil Consumer Products.
Ms. Fleishman received her BA, cum laude, from Harvard University and her MBA from the Harvard Business School. In 2008, she was honored as one of Boston’s "40 under 40" by the Boston Business Journal.
Nick King
Nick King works to bring NEHI’s vision to the professional world and the public. He focuses on promoting, publicizing, and getting media coverage for NEHI’s reports and initiatives, and on making sure that NEHI connects with our broad membership base. He also works to make sure that NEHI’s reports reach the health care policy makers.
Nick King brings extensive experience in journalism and communications - including writing, editing and strategic planning - to his role at NEHI, where he is the organization’s first director of communications. He comes to NEHI from the Boston Globe, where he held a series of increasingly high-level positions over 30 years. Most recently he was editor of the newspaper’s opinion page, where he solicited articles from outside experts ranging from Nobel Prize winners to community activists. Prior to that, Mr. King was the editor of the Globe’s special sections, overseeing the conception, production and marketing of ”The New Boston,’’ a special issue published during the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Mr. King was also editor of the Boston Globe Magazine and served on a strategic planning committee charged with redesigning and relaunching the weekly publication. In addition, he was editor of the Globe’s feature section and editor of its Sunday 'think’ section. As editor of the paper’s State House and City Hall bureaus, Mr. King organized and directed coverage of the 1984 John Kerry-Ray Shamie US Senate campaign. Prior to these editing positions, he was a reporter whose beats included covering Govs. Michael S. Dukakis and Edward J. King, state and national legal affairs, and metropolitan news. Before joining the Globe, he was a reporter at the Berkshire Eagle in Western Massachusetts.
During the course of his journalism career, Mr. King has won numerous awards for excellence, including from the Sunday Magazine Editors Association, the Society for News design, and the Art Directors Club. In 1975, he was a member of the Globe team covering the school busing crisis in Boston, for which the paper received the Pulitzer Prize for public service, considered journalism’s most prestigious award.
Mr. King is a graduate of Harvard University with a BA in English.
Tom Hubbard
Tom Hubbard’s principal work at NEHI focuses on the role of healthcare in economic development in Massachusetts. Mr. Hubbard’s work in healthcare policy with NEHI helps to transform healthcare by highlighting the benefits of rewarding prevention and improving care of chronic conditions .
Mr. Hubbard came to NEHI after seven years at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), where he led industry-focused projects and supervised the annual publication of the MTC Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy. His work has included supervising the I-495 Technology Corridor Partnership, an industry-municipal collaboration on growth, and leading projects on broadband deployment, federal research funding advocacy, and nanotechnology.
Previously, Mr. Hubbard served as Executive Assistant for Economic Affairs to U.S. Senator John Kerry, as Deputy Director of Development for Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, and as Director of Community Development and Planning for the City of Gardner, Massachusetts.
He is a graduate of Harvard College and holds a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Lisa Payne Simon
Lisa Payne Simon, MPH leads NEHI's Fast Adoption of Significant Technologies initiative, currently focusing on home telehealth and tele-ICU projects. Her areas of expertise include healthcare quality improvement, health technology, hospital-acquired infection, health services research and project management and evaluation. With over thirteen years experience in health philanthropy, she has designed and managed dozens of foundation grant programs and initiatives.
Ms. Payne Simon has been a consultant and senior advisor to healthcare improvement initiatives and foundations across the nation. Her recent clients include the Community Health Foundation of Western & Central New York, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the P2 Collaborative of Western New York (an Aligning Forces for Quality grantee), the Blue Shield of California Foundation and the California HealthCare Foundation.
She was formerly director of the Blue Shield of California Foundation’s Health and Technology Program and led the Foundation’s California Technology Assessment Forum activities. Previously, Ms. Payne Simon held a number of positions at the California HealthCare Foundation, including senior program officer and deputy director of the Quality Initiative. Prior to that, Ms. Payne Simon was manager of Medical Outcomes Research with Blue Cross of California.
Ms. Payne Simon has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a master’s degree in public health with a concentration in epidemiology and biostatistics, from the University of California, Berkeley.
Pamela Milton
Pamela Milton is the administrative genius behind NEHI’s success. She works in a variety of areas and oversees recruiting, training and supervising administrative help, administration of benefits, vendor relations and space management. She also works with outside experts to arrange meetings and conferences.
Ms. Milton has extensive administrative, finance, technology, and office management experience in both non-profit and educational organizations. Prior to joining NEHI, she served as Senior Executive Assistant to the President of Citizens International, the non-profit energy services consulting firm headed by former U.S. Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II. Ms. Milton also served as the Senior Staff Accountant to the Chief Financial Officer at Citizens Energy Corporation. Her positions at Citizens required a great deal of contact in the U.S. and abroad with foundations, ambassadors, ministers and presidential offices.
Before joining Citizens, Ms. Milton served as the Senior Staff Accountant for Arichelle Technologies and the Folsom Cordova Unified School District. She is also a five-time United States Dance and Figure Skating Champion and Gold Medalist.
Rushmie Kalke
Rushmie Kalke blends her passion for positive change and experience in communications, journalism and public relations to advance NEHI’s goal of transforming the country’s healthcare system for the benefit of patients and their families. She has more than 10 years of communications experience with expertise in messaging, media relations and developing thought leadership initiatives.
Prior to joining NEHI, Ms. Kalke worked as a communications consultant for M+R Strategic Services in Washington, D.C. She collaborated with clients to create effective communications campaigns for the purpose of changing policy, attitudes and educating the public on important and timely issues such as social justice, economic development and renewable energy.
Previously, Ms. Kalke was a member of the marketing team at State Street Global Advisors in Boston, where she was a senior financial writer and oversaw the development of thought leadership programs and marketing campaigns. She is also a former reporter and has written for various publications including the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and the Eagle-Tribune.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the College of the Holy Cross and a master’s degree in business and economics journalism from Boston University.
Brian Schuetz
Brian Schuetz’s work at NEHI is focused on the FAST initiative and the organization’s work examining the impact of comparative effectiveness research on innovation in the U.S. healthcare system.
Mr. Schuetz's experience is focused in health policy research and development, specifically in the areas of health care reform, women’s health, elder health, and prescription drug issues. Prior to joining NEHI, he worked in the Public Sector Strategy and Operations Practice at Deloitte Consulting. Previously, he served as Acting and Assistant Director of the Women’s Health Policy and Advocacy Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and as Research Fellow for the Heinz Family Philanthropies, a health and environmental policy organization in Washington, DC
Mr. Schuetz holds a bachelors degree in Political Science from Tufts University and received his Masters of Science in Public Policy from the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom.
Shin Daimyo
Shin Daimyo focuses on NEHI's telehealth, comparative effectiveness research (CER) and medication adherence projects. Mr. Daimyo served as management and quality assurance advisor for the Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance, implementing management and health systems interventions in four major hospitals in the African Kingdom of Lesotho.
He has also worked for the World Health Organization's Department of Mental Health Policy and Service Development and the Department of Policy, Research and Collaboration, and as director of former Senator Obama's Florida Health Care Policy Committee for the 2009 Presidential Election. He also has an extensive research background that includes work at the University of Southern California's Department of Clinical Psychology and Social Psychology and Boston University's Center for Global Health and Development.
Mr. Daimyo earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in psychology at the University of Southern California and was awarded the Order of the Laurel and Palm, the highest distinction given to a graduating senior. He also received a Masters in Public Health with a concentration in international health from the Boston University School of Public Health, where he helped found and act as Assistant Editor for BU's first global health journal, The Movement.
Erin McDevitt
Erin McDevitt supports membership and development efforts at NEHI, where she focuses on enhancing the organization’s network of members and partners.
Previously, Ms. McDevitt worked at ClinLab Staffing, a life sciences staffing firm, where she was responsible for prospecting, managing and retaining biotechnology and pharmaceutical clients. During her tenure there, she recruited highly specialized pre-clinical scientists from technician level through PhD. Ms. McDevitt has also worked in the Community Relations Department of Hasbro Inc., where she was exposed to grant making and development work. Additionally, she has traveled extensively with regional development members of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to relief and development programs in India and Eastern Africa.
Ms. McDevitt received her BA in Human Development from Boston College.
Dominique Melissinos
Dominique Melissinos supports NEHI’s research initiatives, focusing on the FAST initiative, the effect of comparative effectiveness research on medical innovation, and issues surrounding prevention and wellness.
Before joining the NEHI team, Ms. Melissinos served as Project and Outreach Coordinator in the Governance Studies program at The Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. Her experience in policy research includes internships at the National Alliance to End Homelessness as well as the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. She has volunteered at numerous healthcare providers, including the San Jose Clinic, Harris County Psychiatric Center, and Texas Orthopedic Hospital in Houston, TX.
Ms. Melissinos earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with high distinction in sociology with a sub-concentration in health and aging from the University of Michigan. She also received a Master of Public Policy with a concentration in social policy from American University in Washington, DC.
Sonia Furtado
Sonia Furtado provides key support to NEHI’s executive leadership. She manages schedules and coordinates travel. In addition, Ms. Furtado provides vital support on event planning, and helps train and orient new personnel.
Prior to joining NEHI, Ms. Furtado was a sales supervisor at Charles David of California and a productivity consultant at Franklin Covey Co. While working in retail, Ms. Furtado trained new employees on sales standards and educated them on product knowledge. Ms. Furtado was also a camp counselor for five consecutive summers at the Cambridge Youth Enrichment Program, a non-profit camp run by Phillips Brooks House Association that offers affordable camp for children in Cambridge.
Ms. Furtado is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society and received her Associate’s Degree in Business Administration from Bunker Hill Community College. She is a Griffin Scholar at Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Business where she studies marketing and management.
Sheri Tewhey
Sheri Tewhey provides key administrative support and database management to the NEHI team, helping to ensure that NEHI maintains up-to-date contact with members, partners, media and policymakers.
Prior to joining NEHI, Sheri was a manager at Circuit City Stores, Inc. and performed administrative support at Macy’s. While working in the retail industry, Ms. Tewhey managed operations and new business concepts for Circuit City, training associates and managers on new or improved processes and provided feedback to the corporate office team. Ms. Tewhey also volunteered at the Animal Rescue League of Boston, lending administrative support at their Boston Veterinary Care office.
Ms. Tewhey earned her B.S. in Sociology with a minor in business from Northeastern University.
Emily Dibbell
Emily Dibbell supports the communications team in order to make NEHI's healthcare research and policy information accessible to NEHI's members, to policymakers and to the public. Her responsibilities include working to upgrade NEHI's website, helping to produce the quarterly NEHI newsletter, and participating in dissemination activities for NEHI's research reports.
Prior to joining NEHI, Ms. Dibbell interned at delaCruz Communications, the Women's Institute for Leadership Development and The Improper Bostonian magazine. These internships provided valuable experience with non-profit organizations, event planning and graphic design.
Ms. Dibbell earned a Bachelor of Sciences degree in communication studies from the State University of New York at Oneonta. She also received a Master of Arts with a focus on communications and integrated marketing from Suffolk University.
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